Free Republic

A video game series that is marketed to children is coming under attack for its recent update allowing characters to have double mastectomy scars and chest binders. "The Sims 4," which calls itself "the ultimate life simulation game" on its website, announced Tuesday that it would allow players to give characters "top scars" that come from breast removal surgery. The announcement drew a swift backlash online, with many gamers and parents expressing horror that a game, especially one that is marketed to children, would promote transgender surgeries.

The Bible In Paintings ~ Encouragement for Appreciating and Applying God's Word ~ J E S U S R A I S E S L A Z A R U S ֎ Featuring 33 Paintings, 1 Mosaic, 6 Reliefs and 1 Tapestry ֎ J O H N «Chapter 11» On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died....

Ukraine scored 33 out of 100 on corruption in 2022, which puts the country near the bottom third out of 180 countries scored, according to the annual Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) published this week by non-profit Transparency International. Out of 180 countries scored, Ukraine was the 116th most corrupt, according to the yearly ranking published on Tuesday. Ukraine’s score of 33 was one point higher than in 2021, but the same as the year before, 2020.

The snowpack in the Sierra Nevada mountains in California is at the highest level since 1995, thanks to a series of “atmospheric river” storms at the new year, and another this week, holding hopes for ending the drought. As Breitbart News has noted, California’s mountainous region has been the great beneficiary of the storms that caused floods in the Central Valley and coastal cities, while dumping huge amounts of snow at high elevations. The storms come after three years of extreme drought, which meteorologists said would last through a third winter, thanks to a pronounced La Niña effect, which typically...

Former President Donald Trump attacked Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in a flurry of social media posts that blast his potential rival as a “RINO GLOBALIST.” In what some skeptics may see as trying extra hard to find an intraparty foil to attack in the run-up to his 2024 election bid, Trump appears to have landed on DeSantis as his desired villain in this professional wrestling-inspired political drama. It started Tuesday evening when Trump posted a short 10-second video of DeSantis from roughly five years ago arguing that he wanted to be like then-GOP congressional leader Paul Ryan:

Health officials announced Monday they want to make coronavirus booster vaccinations an annual event in America, renewing a call first made by President Joe Biden.AP reports the push comes as latest statistics show more than 80 percent of the U.S. population has had at least one vaccine dose, while barely 16 percent of those eligible have received the latest boosters authorized in August.Biden first urged Americans last year to get coronavirus vaccine boosters, recommending one additional annual booster shot, as Breitbart News reported.“If you’re fully vaccinated, get one more COVID shot. Once a year. That’s it,” Biden said during a...

Many observers have noted that the sudden revelations about Old Joe Biden’s storing classified documents in his garage indicate that the people who are really running President Dementia’s administration have grown tired of their frontman. Even the New York Times recently signaled that it was ready to move on from Joe with a more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger lamentation about how much the documents scandal damaged the superannuated president’s future prospects. But the same elites don’t seem to be exactly thrilled with Kamala Harris, either. The Washington Post confirmed that on Monday with an article entitled “Some Democrats are worried about Harris’s political prospects,”...

Perseverance has been depositing secondary samples of rock collected from Mars across the planet’s surface just in case it fails to deliver its onboard samples during a future collection mission. Image: NASA =========================================================== NASA’s Perseverance rover has dropped the last of 10 sample tubes onto the surface of Mars, thereby completing humanity’s “first sample depot on another world.” The rover began depositing titanium tubes containing samples of rock and dust six weeks ago as part of the Mars sample return mission to collect Martian material and deliver it to Earth for further study. Perseverance landed on Mars in February 2021,...

1 February 2023Wednesday of week 4 in Ordinary Time Saint Brigid’s Cathedral, Kildare, Ireland Readings at MassLiturgical Colour: Green. Year: A(I).First readingHebrews 12:4-7,11-15 ©God is training you as his sonsIn the fight against sin, you have not yet had to keep fighting to the point of death. Have you forgotten that encouraging text in which you are addressed as sons? My son, when the Lord corrects you, do not treat it lightly; but do not get discouraged when he reprimands you. For the Lord trains the ones that he loves and he punishes all those that he acknowledges as his...

ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – Aiden Fucci, the teenager charged with murder in the death of 13-year-old Tristyn Bailey, his schoolmate, is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday before his case goes to trial in less than a week.

(Last Updated On: January 30, 2023) NATIONAL DARK CHOCOLATE DAY On February 1st, National Dark Chocolate Day reminds us to indulge a little. Many tout dark chocolate as the healthier chocolate. However, for some, it can be an acquired taste. #NationalDarkChocolateDay Also known as bittersweet chocolate, dark chocolate is different from milk chocolate. Candy makers add milk or butter to milk chocolate, giving it a creamier consistency. Dark chocolate includes no added milk or butter. Instead, the percentage of cocoa solids remaining in the chocolate determines how dark the chocolate is. The higher the ratio, the darker the chocolate. It...

The New York Post editorial board is sounding the alarm bells on leftist billionaire George Soros’ dangerous political influence based in part on research conducted by MRC Business. The Post’s Jan. 26 editorial didn’t pull any punches: “George Soros is the most dangerous man in America — here’s why.” The editorial cited a Post op-ed by Bongino Report Content Manager Matt Palumbo regarding MRC Business’ extensive research into Soros spending an ungodly fortune to purchase influence in global media to amplify his leftist messaging on crime, climate radicalism, abortion, racial politics, Marxist economics and anti-Americanism. Palumbo’s citation of MRC Business’...

Richard Corcoran in March will take over as interim leader of the university. New College of Florida President Patricia Okker was fired Tuesday by the school’s newly installed Board of Trustees. “I understand that there is a new mandate for this college,” Okker said. Before the meeting, a new contract was negotiated to allow for a sabbatical for Okker, and then for her to take a full-time teaching position at the school if she does not take a job elsewhere. The parting of ways with the administrator comes after significant upheaval on the board. Gov. Ron DeSantis this month appointed...

Excerpt - They were busted in early November because women are not allowed to dance in public in Iran, let alone with a man, Agence France-Presse said. Haghighi also appeared in the video without a headscarf, in solidarity with protests over the September death of Mahsa Amini, 22, after her arrest for not abiding by strict hijab rules. Haghighi and her beau were this week each sentenced to 10 1/2 years in prison by a revolutionary court in Tehran,... -excerpt- ...convicted of “encouraging corruption and public prostitution” as well as “gathering with the intention of disrupting national security,”

The US economy is slowing down. In fact, ADP jobs added just printed at 106k in January, the lowest reading since August 2021. ADP jobs added follows the slow down of M2 Money growth YoY as The Fed tightens its monetary policy. Do I detect a trend (orange line)? I doubt that January’s ADP report will be mentioned in Biden’s State of the Union address.

"I rejoice and share my joy with you" (Phil. 2:17). True joy is directly related to godly living. Philippians is often called the epistle of joy—and rightly so because the believer's joy is its major theme. Paul loved the Philippian Christians and they loved Him. When they learned that he had been imprisoned for preaching the gospel, they were deeply concerned. Paul wrote to alleviate their fears and encourage their joy. Of his own circumstances he said, "Even if I am being poured out as a drink offering upon the sacrifice and service of your faith, I rejoice and share...

“ There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian Regiment, a devout man and one who feared God with all his household, who gave alms generously to the people, and prayed to God always” (Acts 10:1-2 NKJV). The life of Cornelius proves that God seeks full-hearted devotion, obedience and ceaseless prayer. Consider how this man of God saved his house and the miracles his devotion brought about. Cornelius was so determined to lead his household into God’s fullness that he neglected to eat in favor of seeking God. Food was secondary...

** A team of web developers found numerous security issues in California's digital license plate carrier, Reviver. ** With access through the plate's SIM card, hackers were able to see the real-time location and registration address, delete or alter the tag, and even mislabeled the vehicle as stolen. ** Reviver has patched the issues since, but privacy advocates say the digital plate program poses security and data challenges that outweigh the supposed convenience.

In a mirror image of what the United States has been doing with semiconductor lithography technology, China has recently amended its rules to ban the export of several core solar panel technologies in order to maintain its leading status and global market share in the sector. A solar panel on a rooftop may include a hundred pieces of silicon and China has the lead now in machinery to manufacture those. Now Chinese manufacturers have been forbidden to use their large silicon, black silicon and cast-mono silicon technologies overseas, according to the newly-amended export guidelines published by the Ministry of Commerce...

Legendary quarterback Tom Brady says he is retiring "for good" after 23 seasons in the NFL. Brady, 45, first announced his retirement on this day last year but reversed his decision six weeks later, claiming he had "unfinished business". He won seven Super Bowls in his career - six with the New England Patriots before his final triumph with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2021.